Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 19th(International Observation) The rift in Western relations between the United States, Britain and Australia’s “stabbing” allies deepens
Xinhua News Agency reporter
French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Tabor left Canberra on the 18th to return home. Earlier, under the leadership of the United States, the United States, Britain and Australia announced the establishment of a new trilateral security partnership on the 15th. The United States and Britain will support the Australian Navy in establishing a nuclear submarine force, and Australia will cooperate with the United States and Britain to build nuclear submarines in Australia. Australia also tore up the tens of billions of dollars of submarine orders signed with the French Navy Group. France announced the recall of its ambassadors to the United States and Australia on the 17th.
Analysts pointed out that this move by the United States, Britain and Australia made France and European allies feel humiliated and betrayed, and further deepened the rift in relations within the Western camp led by the United States. It will also have a negative impact on the strategic stability of the Asia-Pacific region and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
France “wounded”
French Foreign Minister Le Drian said in an interview with the media on the 16th that Australia’s approach gave France a “back blow”. He condemned U.S. President Biden for making a “unilateral, crude, and unpredictable” decision like his predecessor Trump. On the 18th, he again accused the incident of “two-sided tricks, contempt and lies.”
French Defense Minister Parley said in an interview with the media that Australia’s suspension of the contract with France violated its promise and was a “serious” decision from an international political perspective.
French Seine-Marne Province MP and historian Jean-Louis Tierro wrote an article on the 18th that if Australia’s cancellation of the contract is a “trade insult” to France, then the United States, Britain and Australia announced the establishment of a new trilateral security partnership. It is a “diplomatic insult” to France. The strategic partnership between France and Australia formed in 2016 has become a “historical insult” today. France never expected its allies to make such a move.
The huge loss of a large order has made France unhappy, and what makes France even more angry is the way the Australian government handled the matter. Jean-Pierre Tabor said that he learned of the Australian government’s decision to tear up the contract after reading media reports. “They deliberately kept us in the dark and deliberately ignored us. How deep”.
“Disillusionment” of beauty
The hurried withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan has just given its allies a sense of what the “U.S. commitment” is. This incident has once again exposed the selfishness of the United States. Parley said bluntly: “We have clearly seen the way the United States treats its allies and partners.”
Tierro pointed out that although the United States has changed its president, its style of behavior has not changed. “It is a high-sounding emphasis on multilateralism and unity among allies, but in fact everything is decided according to its own interests, and it is still’America first’.” .
The French “Echo” commented on the 17th that the United States, Britain and Australia gave France a “slap in the face.” Europeans have long imagined that the United States will treat Europe well, but the submarine incident has made France see clearly. Biden only sees Washington’s economic and commercial interests. In June of this year, the United States forced Switzerland to abandon the French Rafale and purchase American F-35A fighters. Now the United States is bullying France again.
The French “Le Monde” article on the 16th said that the United States is still the leading force of Western countries, but as long as the vital interests of the United States are involved, its European allies should not expect any favors or courtesies.
Germany’s “Frankfurt Review” reported on the 17th that the new alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia has aroused strong dissatisfaction in Europe, and the European Parliament has severely criticized the alliance. Europeans doubt that after the Trump era, the US government is taking new cooperation on the geopolitical stage seriously.
Multiple “consequences”
U.S. public opinion generally believes that U.S.-French relations have been severely damaged due to this incident, or have dropped to the lowest point since the 2003 Iraq War. An article in the French newspaper Le Figaro on the 16th pointed out that this diplomatic crisis may be as long as the French-US diplomatic crisis that occurred due to the Iraq war.
Some analysts pointed out that, like the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States has not fully negotiated and communicated with its allies this time. This will not only deepen the rift between allies, but also further strengthen Europe’s willingness to “strategic independence.” The “Le Figaro” article said that the “slap” that the United States gave to France proved that French President Macron was correct-Europe must seek strategic autonomy.
Many Australian experts expressed concern about Australia’s diplomacy and regional situation. Roman Fati, a senior lecturer at Flinders University, and Claire Riou, a Ph.D. student at Monash University, pointed out that the Australian-French partnership is unlikely to improve in the short term, and Australia may face economic and diplomatic retaliation from the French side. Herve Le Mayer, research director of the Australian think tank Loy Institute, believes that France is a big country in the European Union, and this matter may “complicate” the negotiation process of Australia-Europe free trade agreements. Alan Bem, director of international and security affairs projects at the Australian Institute, an independent public policy think tank, said that US support for Australia’s construction of nuclear submarines may prompt other allies to make similar demands, which will bring about the risk of an arms race and affect the strategic stability of the region. Neighboring countries are even more disturbed by the US-Australia military cooperation.
Some analysts are also concerned about the possible nuclear proliferation risks brought about by cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia. Mark Fitzpatrick, a former official in charge of nuclear non-proliferation at the US State Department, said that this sets a precedent. If more US allies get nuclear submarines, they may start uranium enrichment activities on the grounds of obtaining nuclear submarine fuel. (Participating reporters: Tang Ji, Xu Yongchun, Yue Dongxing, Bai Xu, Hao Yalin, Liu Pinran)Return to Sohu to see more
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